PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkins favourite running mate is serving a five-game NHL suspension. No matter. The Pittsburgh Penguins star can handle things by himself when he needs to. Malkin scored in his return from a lower-body injury, Sidney Crosby added his 16th goal, and the Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Monday night. Pittsburgh won its sixth straight home game behind 32 saves by Marc-Andre Fleury and some vintage work by Malkin. The Russian missed Pittsburghs previous two games after hurting himself in a game-day skate on Thursday. He appeared to be just fine when he bulled his way toward the Columbus net 4:16 into the second period for his eighth goal of the season. Malkin brushed off defenceman Jack Johnson and then deftly poked a shot past the outstretched stick of goalie Curtis McElhinney. Not bad for a guy who sometimes struggles when separated from linemate James Neal, who served the first game of the suspension he received for kneeing Bostons Brad Marchand in the head during a loss on Saturday. "Theres no doubt theyre good together," Crosby said. "Theyre both really good players. When they dont have each other, theyre capable of making plays, too." Crosby pushed his point total to an NHL-best 43 when a centring pass from Pascal Dupuis deflected off Crosbys leg and into the net 8:52 into the third. "It looked like that was the only way I was going to score tonight the way it was going," Crosby said. "I had some really pretty chances that didnt go in ... that second one ended up being important for us." Matt Calvert scored with less than a minute left for Columbus, spoiling Fleurys shutout bid. McElhinney made 28 saves but the Blue Jackets struggled again in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have won all three meetings this season by a combined score of 9-3. "You never want to go 0-3 against a division rival," Calvert said. "Theyre four-point games, and you lose a lot of points in the race." Fleury was sharp when tested, though the Penguins did an excellent job of keeping the Blue Jackets from spending too much time in his face. There were few close calls by the Blue Jackets after the opening 10 minutes. Fleurys only mistake came when he narrowly missed scoring a goal into an empty net with a minute to play, inadvertently sparking a sequence that led to Calvert getting loose for his second goal of the season with 56 seconds remaining. Pittsburgh, which allowed two goals to Boston in the final minute on Saturday, didnt collapse this time. "The main thing is we got the win, got the two points," Fleury said. "Thats what matters." The Blue Jackets are hoping to take a step forward this season after moving over to the Eastern Conference following 13 mostly dismal seasons in the West. Injuries, however, have slowed their development. Columbus is missing forwards Marion Gaborik and Nathan Horton, defenceman James Wisniewski, and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Gaborik and Bobrovsky are out until after the new year. Horton is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. The Blue Jackets had won three of four, including consecutive shutouts over Tampa Bay and Minnesota, to climb within three games of .500. They controlled play at the outset, controlling the puck for long stretches but had trouble generating solid scoring chances. "We didnt have clean shooting lanes," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "They created a lot of second chances, it seems like they created rebounds off Macs pads, and it seems like our shots were caught or hit (Fleury) in the chest." In addition to Neal, the Penguins also played without defencemen Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi. Orpik is sidelined indefinitely after being knocked out by Bostons Shawn Thornton on Saturday. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Monday that Orpik is "doing quite well" but issued no timetable for his return. NOTES: The Blue Jackets scratched Wisniewski, D Tim Erixon and forward Jack Skille. ... Pittsburgh also scratched forward Harry Zolnierczyk and D Brian Dumoulin. ... The Penguins are 8-1 when they have been outshot. Jason Kidd Jersey .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. Jose Juan Barea Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. http://www.officialmavericksfanstore.com...ricks-jersey/.C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Jalen Brunson Jersey . He was with the New York Jets in 2011 when the NFL locked out their players after they failed to agree on a new contract. Willy went undrafted but was given a look by four NFL teams before heading north. Luka Doncic Mavericks Jersey . LeBron James leads the Miami Heat in a quest for three consecutive championship titles, while Tim Duncan looks to add his fifth ring with the San Antonio Spurs when the series tips off with Game 1: Miami @ San Antonio on Thursday, June 5 at 9 p.OTTAWA -- The New Jersey Devils hate shootouts and for good reason. The Devils could only cringe as they watched Erik Karlsson score the winner in the shootout, lifting the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win Thursday night. The Devils are now 0-12 in shootouts this season. New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider was visibly disgusted by yet another shootout loss. "Take one of our quotes from any point this year and apply it to tonight," said Schneider, who faced 32 shots. "Its the same result." Jaromir Jagr didnt know whether to laugh or cry at the Devils fate. "Its frustrating, no question about it," said Jagr. "(The shootout) probably cost us the playoffs, but youve got no other choice but to work on it." Karlsson is now 1-2 in shootouts this season and said he enjoys the challenge of scoring under pressure. "Its a fun thing to do," said Karlsson. "It feels like weve been pretty successful over the course of the year, but its obviously always nice to score." Although eliminated from the playoffs the Senators, who have now won three in a row, are hoping to finish the season strong. "Thats why we play this sport, its to win games," Karlsson said. "Even though we havent done it on a regular basis this year like we wanted to thats what were going to keep playing for no matter where we are in the standings and it feels good to put a couple together." Mike Hoffman also scored for the Senators (35-31-14) as Robin Lehner stopped 38 shots to win his third straight game. Michael Ryder scored his 18th of the season for the Devils (34-29-17). The game was forced into overtime as neither was able to break a 1-1 tie through the third. With 35 seconds remaining in overtime the Senators went on the power play, but were unable to take advantage. Overtime proved to be the best part of the game. The Devils had a great chance on a 3-on-1, but Lehner stopped Jagr and at the other end Schneider robbed Chris Phillips from in close. By the end of overtime Jagr had been stopped three times, including on a breakaway. Lehner felt good about his game, especially the stops he made on Jagr. "Hes a great player so its fun to see him come down the ice," said Lehner. "You want to stop him." The game lacked any intensity for the first 30 minutes and looked like two teams who missed the playoffs playing out the season. Devils coach Peter DeBoer admitted his teeam was flat the first 10 minutes and attributed it to the team still dealing with the reality of not making the playoffs.dddddddddddd New Jersey was officially eliminated Wednesday night. "You could see we were a little bit out of it," said DeBoer. "There was a little bit of a hangover, but I thought once we started getting into the game and started to move and we carried the play. We should have had more than one goal." The first excitement for the 19,270 on hand at Canadian Tire Place came midway through the second when Ales Hemsky was awarded a penalty shot after being pulled down by Marek Zidlicky. Hemsky made little of the opportunity as he shot wide of the net. "We were a little sloppy early on, but I thought after that we woke up and generated chances and played our game," said Schneider. "A little more up and down than we would have liked, but at least it was an entertaining game." The play did, however, seem to inspire the Senators as they scored a minute later when Mika Zibanejad made a pass back to a trailing Hoffman. Zibanejad played just two shifts in the third period before leaving the game. He was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons. The Senators gave details on the nature of his injury. The Devils tied it at the 17-minute mark of the period as the Senators were unable to clear a rebound and Tim Sestito found Ryder through traffic. A scoreless first period saw Ottawas Mark Stone miss on a great opportunity and Clarke MacArthur being robbed point blank. The Devils didnt register their first shot until the eight-minute mark. The Senators will play their last home game of the season Saturday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Devils return home to wrap up the season. Notes: C Colin Greening returned to the Senators lineup after missing the last six games with a lower-body injury. The Senators were without D Jared Cowen (lower body, day-to-day) and RW Bobby Ryan (sports hernia, out for season). LW Matt Kassian and C Jean-Gabriel Pageau were healthy scratches. ... The New Jersey Devils LW Patrik Elias returned after missing the last two games. The Devils were without C Adam Henrique (undisclosed, day-to-day), C Jacob Josefson (lower body, day-to-day), LW Ryan Clowe (head, day-to-day) and D Bryce Salvador (lower body, day-to-day). D Peter Harrold and D Eric Gelinas were healthy scratches. ' ' '